Sand Croc versus Water Luffy:

-x-

Luffy stood in the grassy courtyard outside the palace. He had a barrel full of water strapped to his back and was ready to start the second round of his fight with Crocodile. The aforementioned Warlord was still lying prone on the grass from when Luffy had punched him with a water-coated fist. The only spectators there to witness this part of the duel were Ms. All Sunday who stood casually by the palace doors and King Nefertari Cobra who still had a pair of large nails going through his elbows to keep him pinned against the front of the palace.

"Get. Up." Luffy growled at Crocodile. "It's time to fight! Now Crocodile!"

"Kuahahahahaha!" Crocodile chuckled as he slowly sat up on the grass. His laugh increased in volume as it progressed. "Kuahahahahahahahaha! KUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! KUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! KUUUAAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAA!"

Luffy glared at Crocodile, not understanding what was so funny. But it seemed clear that the Warlord still didn't see Luffy as the threat even if he did have a barrel of water on his back.

-x-

At the base of the stairs leading up to the palace the rest of the reunited Straw Hats stood together with Mana, Ayako, and Pell and pointedly ignored the two armies that were fighting in the square nearby.

"While Luffy's dealing with Crocodile, you've got another problem to attend do," Y/N addressed the others. "Crocodile told us that in ten minutes, at exactly four-thirty, a bomb is going to be fired into the square. The bomb is powerful enough to wipe out everything within three miles."

"Three miles?" Chopper repeated. "Then the Royal Army and the Rebel Army will both be wiped out!"

"That's right," Vivi confirmed. "We have to act quickly."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Usopp exclaimed. "IN TEN MINUTES THIS PLACE IS REALLY GONNA BLOW UP?"

"But if Crocodile told you, how do you know it's real?" Zoro asked suspiciously.

"It's not exactly a threat that can be ignored," Y/N told him. "There are too many lives at stake. Crocodile's shown that he doesn't have any compassion for any life other than his own so it sounds like something he'd do. He used it as a threat to get the King to tell him the location of some secret weapon but you can't afford to take it lightly."

"That's not much time," Nami reasoned, "Where are we supposed to look?"

"And if the cannon's near the square then wouldn't the cannon-guy get caught in the explosion too?" Usopp questioned. "Wouldn't it be far away?"

"No," Vivi answered. "The cannon is somewhere near the palace square."

"Crocodile doesn't care one bit about his underlings," Mana pointed out, "He probably only told the agents to fire a bomb at four-thirty and not how powerful it is."

"YOU MEAN HE'S JUST GONNA LET HIS OWN MAN GET KILLED?" Chopper shrieked.

"Considering its Crocodile we shouldn't be surprised," Nami reminded him.

"They'll be killing themselves without even knowing it," Ayako whispered.

"He's just plain evil," Sanji growled.

"WAIT!" Usopp suddenly shouted. "WE'RE within a three mile range of the square! IF THAT BOMB GOES OFF WE'LL BE BLOWN UP TOO!"

"That's even more of a reason to find it," Y/N resolved.

"So we've gotta find the cannon and stop the cannoneer from shooting," Zoro stated.

"Then how do we find him?" Usopp questioned in a panic.

"You'll have to search all the buildings and all the rooftops nearby," Y/N stated. "If you split up you'll be able to cover more ground."

"Hold on," Nami interrupted, "What do you mean 'you'? Aren't you helping us?"

Y/N shook his head, "Crocodile's got the King trapped up there," he said. "While Luffy keeps him busy I'm going to try and save him and get to the bottom of his global takeover plot."

"I know now might not be the best time," Sanji admitted, "But Y/N you're the only pirate here that hasn't beaten an Officer Agent."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Y/N challenged him.

"Well you don't seem to have a problem picking fights with Officer Agents," Mana reminded him, "But you seem to have a problem finishing them." Y/N had fought more Officer Agents than all of the other Straw Hats. Mr. 3, Mr. 5, Ms. Valentine and Ms. Goldenweek on Little Garden, Mr. 2 Bon Kurei, Mr. 3.5, Ms. All Sunday and even Crocodile in Alubarna. But of all those agents he hadn't actually been the one to beat any of them.

"I stopped my fight with Mr. 3.5 because you took over," Y/N argued.

"C'mon Y/N, even I beat an Officer Agent," Nami teased him, "Two actually, if you include blondie over there."

"Some example you set, Mr. First Mate," Usopp chimed in. "Chopper and I beat the mole-woman, the big batter, and their little dog too."

"Guys, now really isn't the time for this!" Vivi cut in.

"Hey, you didn't finish any off either," Zoro pointed out.

"Miss. Vivi isn't a pirate, you idiot!" Sanji snapped.

"Just go find the—" Y/N cut off when a large rugged-looking man with a sword came up behind Vivi and went to attack her. Pell went to draw his sword but he didn't need to.

SLISH! THWAK! Zoro and Sanji reacted before Pell got a chance and dropped the man with a slash and a kick. THUD! The man collapsed to the ground and the Straw Hats, former Agents, and Pell noticed the cluster of over twenty armed men that were behind him.

"AAAAAAAHHH!" Usopp screamed.

"Looks like we found ya Princess," one of the men taunted, "I wonder how big of a promotion the boss will give us for killing you!"

"BILLIONS!" Vivi exclaimed. All of the Baroque Works Billions that had infiltrated the Rebel and Royal Armies were not looking to personally take out Vivi.

"Damn," Y/N cursed.

"It looks like... we'll lose some time," Sanji commented.

"He's right," Zoro agreed, "So let's not waste all of it."

"Let's go," Y/N, Zoro, and Sanji said at the same time.

"I'll go on ahead," Nami told them as she ran off.

"Us too!" Usopp and Chopper called out while they and Ayako ran after Nami. Vivi ran with them and Pell dutifully followed her.

"I'll be more help in the air searching the rooftops," Mana pointed out, she lowered her weight to one kilogram and raised her umbrella overhead. The swirling sand that was blanketing the square blew her up into the air and she floated off.

THWAK! THWAK! THWAK! "Well that's two seconds," Sanji remarked as he stood over a pile of Billions.

SLISH! SLISH! SLASH! "You're counting is not helping!" Zoro complained as he downed another batch of men then stepped back and stood back-to-back with Sanji.

"Just keeping track," Sanji replied.

SLA-SLISH! Y/N sped passed them and leveled another batch of Billions with a slash of his red blade. "You guys get out of here," Y/N ordered, "I'll handle the rest. You don't have the time to waste dealing with these guys."

"Right," Zoro agreed. SLISH! He took down one last Billion then ran off after the others.

"These guys don't count as Officer Agents!" Sanji taunted Y/N as he ran off.

"Let's split up!" Usopp called out to the others. "We've gotta get out of this sand if we're gonna find anything!"

Ayako jumped on Chopper's back and he raced after Nami in his Walk Point form while Usopp ran off another way with Zoro running after him. SSHHWWOO! Pell transformed into a falcon and took to the sky while Sanji ran off in a different direction entirely.

"Ten minutes," Vivi thought to herself as she ran off alone through the cloud of sand. "This is really it. This is our last chance. In ten minutes the country's fate could be decided... for good."

"One Eye Kick Barrage!" Y/N called out before the attacked the Billions surrounding him. "ROUNDHOUSE!" THWAK! The kick not only leveled a Billion but toppled the Billions standing behind him."BACK! CRESCENT!" THWAK-WAK! A hard back kick to the face sent one Billion flying into another cluster of agents while the other KO-ed an agent coming after him from behind. "SPINNING WHEEL!" Y/N jumped into the air and whipped his leg around into the face of large Billion. THU-WHAK!

Y/N remained standing while the Billions that were still conscious slowly staggered back up. Y/N drew Akakyuuketsuki and started spinning around in place. Woosh! Woosh! Woosh! Y/N became a shirtless blur of red hair and black pants before he slashed his red blade. "RED STORM... TORNADO!" SLA-SLISH! A circular red-tinted air blade flew out from Y/N and expanded into a giant red-tint ring and leveled all the standing Billions in one shot.

Y/N stopped spinning and staggered a couple steps to the side as he overcame his dizziness then surveyed his handiwork. "I took down those guys easily enough," Y/N commented to himself. "But the others don't seem to realize that there's a difference between fighting an Officer Agent and facing off against the Boss while his right-hand lady gets involved whenever you're about to win."

-x-

"Kuahahahahaha!" Back in the courtyard, Crocodile was still laughing. "Kuahahahahahaha!

"..." Luffy silently removed his straw hat and dropped it on the ground next to him so it wouldn't get damaged in the battle.

"Come on," Crocodile taunted Luffy, "You think you can defeat me?"

"Sure do," Luffy replied, "Now that I've figured out how to stop you from turning into sand."

"I'll admit, I'm impressed that you figured it out," Crocodile confessed as he remained seated on the ground, "But I hope you realize that something like that isn't nearly enough to make this an even fight. Being able to hit me wasn't enough to help One Eye win and it won't be enough for you. My skills far surpass yours. I am one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea."

"So what if you're one of the Seven dumb Warlords!" Luffy retorted. "I guess that makes me... THE EIGHTH WARLORD!"

"..." Crocodile couldn't think of a response to that and just stared silently.

"Really?" King Cobra questioned. "Who is that guy?"

"He's a pirate," Ms. All Sunday stated, "I'm surprised you haven't heard about him yet. He and the other one helped your darling Princess Vivi escape from death a few times now."

"So then they... are responsible for bringing Vivi back?" Cobra asked.

"..." Ms. All Sunday smiled silently as she watched the battle get underway.

WOING! Luffy stretched his soaked rubber arm out behind him, "GUUUMM... GUUUMM..." SHOOOOM! His arm snapped forward and his soaked fist flew at Crocodile, "PISTOL!"

"If I dodge it..." Crocodile calmly stated as he leaned to the side. SWIFF! Luffy's fist sailed passed him, "then it's no use." WHAP! Crocodile reached out and grabbed Luffy's stretched arm. "My hand can still absorb any fluid on you." The water coating Luffy's arm was sucked away into Crocodile's hand and left Luffy's arm dry. "For that matter, I can absorb all the water that's in you as well." Crocodile grinned as he used his powers to suck all the moisture out of Luffy's arm causing the rubber limb to shrivel up and dry out until it looked like a mummy arm.

"OH CRAP!" Luffy cursed, "I FORGOT ABOUT THAT TRICK!" SHOOM! He let his mummy arm pull him towards Crocodile then lashed out his leg, SWOOSH! A well-placed kick reduced Crocodile to a cloud of sand. WOING! Luffy flew passed him and retracted his dried out arm then brought the hose from his water barrel to his mouth and drank from it. GULP1 GULP! GULP! WHUP! The moisture returned to Luffy's withered arm and the muscles in it briefly bulged as Luffy flexed it. Luffy landed on his feet and Crocodile reformed on his feet a safe distance away from Luffy.

"Alright, not bad," Luffy remarked. Crocodile just stood there as Luffy grabbed the hose and showered himself with the water from his barrel. SPLOOSH! "Remember how you told me about how Devil Fruit Powers get stronger?" What Crocodile had said had been more of a taunt comparing how he'd taken the time to master his Sand Sand Fruit Powers and use them for all they were worth while Luffy only used his Gum Gum Fruit Powers to stretch and hit harder. "GUUUMM... GUUUUMM... PIIISTOOOL!" SHOOOM! Luffy fired his soaked fist at Crocodile who stood there grinning as Luffy once again did his most basic attack,

But then Luffy reached out and grabbed his stretched arm snapped it to the side. WOING! Luffy's extended arm wiggled around as it flew at Crocodile causing the one straight-forward punch to look like a barrage of punches. "SHOOOTGUUUUN!" WHOOOOM!

Crocodile leapt out of the way and managed to avoid Luffy's punch barrage. "STUPID BRAT!" Crocodile snarled, "DEVIL FRUIT POWERS ARE ONLY AS STRONG AS THE PERSON USING THEM! DESERT SPARDA!" SHOOOSH! Crocodile's arm became a blade of sand and sank into the ground. VVOOOOM! The splitting sand raced towards Luffy as Crocodile looked to cleave him clean in half.

"UH OH!" Luffy exclaimed. SWIF! Luffy stretched himself to the side causing the fissure to whizz passed him and smash into a distant part of the palace. BOOOOM! "That was close!" Luffy stared down at the split in the ground then looked back at Crocodile, "Now GUUUMM... GUUUUMMM..." SHOOOM! Luffy shot his fist out at Crocodile.

"You just keep using the same move against me," Crocodile pointed out as he calmly stared down Luffy's quickly approaching fist. "Do you wanna win?"

WHOOOM! "YEAH!"Luffy suddenly appeared right in front of Crocodile. Instead of trying to hit Crocodile with the punch he'd stretched his arm towards Crocodile and then retracted the rest of his body after it. The Warlord was caught off guard at how quickly Luffy had gotten in front of him and didn't have time to react before Luffy hit him. "AND I'M GOING TO!" WHAM! Luffy smashed the Warlord with his wet elbow and knocked him to the ground. THUD Crocodile landed face down on the ground while Luffy jumped up over him and pulled the barrel off of his back.

"THIS WAS MY PLAN FROM THE BEGINNING!" Luffy shouted as he threw the water barrel at Crocodile. "TIME FOR YOU TO GET WET!"

"Of course, your plan was obvious!" Crocodile retorted. SHWOOO! Sand swirled around in Crocodile's hand before he threw the forming sandstorm at Luffy. "SSAAABLEEEESS!" FWOOOOOM! The sand swirled around and sent Luffy and his water barrel flying.

"WAAAH! BAAARRREEEL!" Luffy shrieked before he frantically stretched his arms out and grabbed his wayward weapon. SHOO-WHAP! Luffy hugged the barrel to his chest as he dropped down and landed on the wall above the palace doors. TMP!

"Luffy!" Luffy looked down and sat Y/N standing in the doorway. "What's the matter, I thought you'd have beaten him already."

"Beat me?" Crocodile repeated. "KUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He smirked at Luffy. "You're struggling so hard, Straw Hat Luffy! You can't do anything at all with the barrel of yours, can you? This is no different from my first fight against you, after all. You've gotten a few glancing blows in but in the end you can't beat me!"

"You're right Crocodile," Luffy agreed, "It isn't any different like this." Luffy pulled the hose out of the barrel and tossed it aside then drank straight from the opening in the lid. GULP! GULP! GULP! GULP! GULP!

Y/N, Crocodile, Robin, and Cobra all stared silently as Luffy guzzled down the contents of his barrel. GLUG! GLUG! GLUG! GLUG! As it continued, Crocodile's stoic expression became one of horror and disgust, Y/N's became one of embarrassment, and Cobra gaped in shock.

"HOW ABOUT THIS!" Luffy finally called out as he tossed the empty barrel away from him. "Now I'm not the same as I was before!"

"You've gotta be kidding me..." Crocodile grumbled.

SLOOOSSSHH! "WATER LUFFY!" Luffy called out. His rubber belly had expanded to the point that it was two times the size of his normal body size and now jiggled from all the water he'd just ingested. PLUUURRT! Water sprayed out from the bandaged wounds Crocodile had made through Luffy's body that ended their first fight. "GAAAH! A LEAK!"

"He can't be serious about this... can he?" Crocodile asked himself.

Y/N hung his head in embarrassment, "Honestly Luffy, if you weren't a huge dreamer that's a genius in combat with a heart of gold, I don't know why I'd follow you."

"I guess I shouldn't have drunk that much water," Luffy muttered as he struggled to keep the water inside his body.

"FUFUFUFUFUFUFUFU!" Nico Robin laughed out loud at Luffy's bizarre antics.

"Grrrr..." Crocodile snarled in his mind, "Does this idiot really not understand what's going on here?"

"DAMN IT! STOP YOUR MESSING AROUND!" Crocodile screamed at Luffy.

SHWOOO! Crocodile's legs became a cloud of sand as he billowed towards Luffy. To him it seemed like Luffy was mocking him by using such a stupid battle tactic.

BLURP! Luffy spat out a batch of water balls out at Crocodile. SPLOOOSSH! The water balls hit the Warlord and burst over him, leaving him soaking wet.

"Uggghhh..." Crocodile groaned as he stopped and stood in place. His hair dark purple hair was damp and matted and his expensive fur coat was soaked. "DAMN THAT BRAT!"

"WHO SAID I WAS MESSING AROOUUNND!" Luffy yelled. WOOIINNG! Luffy stretched his arms out behind him.

"My... body..." Crocodile grumbled. The water was making the sand that composed his body damp and hard, he couldn't move to dodge.

"I'M ALWAYS SERIOUS!" Luffy told Crocodile. "LEMME SHOW YOU!"

Y/N shook his head, "Not always, just in a fight," he corrected.

"GUUUUMMM... GUUUUUUUMMMM..." SHOOOOOM! Luffy's arms came rocketing back and flew passed his body and whizzed towards Crocodile. "BAAAAZOOOOKAAAA!" WHAAAAM! Luffy's fists smashed into Crocodile's stomach. Blood came flying out of the Warlord's mouth as he was sent sailing backwards. KRAASSHH! Crocodile smashed into the stone monument that had been behind him and reduced it to a pile of rubble as it came crashing down on top of him.

Luffy's water belly jiggled while Y/N grinned and King Cobra gaped in shock.

"..." Nico Robin stared silently at the wreckage her partner was buried under.

"How was that, Sand Croc?" Luffy taunted.

-x-

Down below in the square the Rebel Army and the Royal Army kept fighting. The combat had actually spilled out beyond the square and was now going on in the streets surrounding it. Both armies were oblivious to the bomb that was set to blow them up in eight and a half minutes as well as the fight up above them outside the palace.

-x-

"That's amazing!" King Cobra gasped. "He beat Crocodile! That kid's weird but incredible!"

"There's no time now for all this admiration," Nico Robin stated. "We have other things to do." Two arms grew out of the wall the King was pinned to and yanked the nails out of his elbows.

"AAAHHH!" the King gasped as he dropped to the ground.

"Get up," Nico Robin ordered. "It's time for us to get moving. You are going to show me the way to the Poneglyph."

"What are you planning to do?" King Cobra asked. "How could looking at it possibly help you?"

"UGGHH!" the King groaned as two arms grew out of his back and wrenched his own arms behind him. The third arm grew and pinned his wrists together and stayed there while the other two disappeared in a flurry of flower petals.

"There's no time for stupid questions," Nico Robin told him. "Just take me there."

Luffy stood in the middle of the courtyard and stared at Nico Robin and remembered how she'd saved his life when he was wounding and sinking in the quicksand. She'd gone from saving him to ordering around a King. If Luffy wasn't involved in a fight with a Warlord he'd probably have to decide whether or not to do something about her.

Y/N walked up next to Luffy and stared at Robin with him.

"She's a strange one isn't she," Y/N remarked as he stood next to his brother who was still currently swelled and jiggling like a water balloon.

"Y/N..." Luffy said, "When I lost to Crocodile out in the desert... she saved me."

"When I was fighting Crocodile she kept me from finishing him off," Y/N replied. "Her reason was that 'she needed him alive'. Her motivations seem to involve finding a big stone block with strange characters on it called a Poneglyph. But she doesn't seem to want to kill anyone."

"Stone block..." Luffy repeated as he remembered the block they'd found when they got lost in the desert on the way to Yuba, "You mean like..."

"Yes," Y/N interrupted. "Like that."

"Your luck's beginning to run out," Nico Robin stated. "You certainly did try but there's not much time left."

KRESH! Crocodile burst out of the pile of stone rubble and glared at the two pirates standing together in the middle of the courtyard.

"You should get going now, Nico Robin," Crocodile told her, "Unless you want to be dried up along with these two."

"Wait... when did I get involved in this?" Y/N asked.

"You've disrupted my plans enough for me to take a personal interest in killing you as well," Crocodile replied. "Go now, Nico Robin. I'll handle these brats. I'm done playing games."

"Nico Robin?" King Cobra repeated as he stared up at his captor.

"Yes, as you wish," Nico Robin agreed. She forced the King back up to his feet and walked away into the palace.

"Grrrr," Crocodile growled as he crouched on the ground and placed his bare hand on the grass at his feet. "Watch closely. I'm going to destroy every last rock on this ground! And you two along with them!"

"AH!" Luffy gasped in shock as the green grass around Crocodile's hand turned yellow and dried up. The cluster of withered yellow grass grew outward and the blades disintegrated into tiny grains of sand. "ALL THE GRASS IS DYING!"

The dead patch grew outward and covered the courtyard. SHWUP! A palm tree that had previously been behind the two withered and died in an instant, its remains dropped to the ground and became sand.

"WAAAAAHH!" Luffy screamed as the grassy courtyard around them was reduced to a dead wasteland.

Unlike Luffy, who was standing in place and yelping in surprise, Y/N quickly jumped into action. ZZZOOOOM! Y/N sprinted over to the unconscious but still alive form of Chaka and yanked him off of the ground then doubled back and raced towards the still opened doors of the palace. ZZZOOOOM!

"GROUND... SECO!" KRAK! KRAK! KRAK! KRAK! The ground that made up the courtyard started splitting apart.

"WAAAAAAHHH!" Luffy shrieked as the ground he was standing on split. He fell downward but managed to stretch his legs apart and save himself at the last second. "That was close!"

"Luffy!" Y/N called out to his brother from the doors of the palace. "I'm going to go after Nico Robin and save the King and get to the bottom of this Poneglyph thing. I'll leave him to you."

"I WON'T ALLOW YOU TO GET AWAY!" Crocodile shouted as he charged after Y/N.

"RICKY GO!" Luffy shouted. While still hanging upside down he craned his neck around so he was looking at Crocodile. "WATER WATER... PISTOL!" BLURP! BLURP! BLURP! Luffy fired a barrage of water balls out of his mouth at Crocodile.

Crocodile stopped in place and held out his hand. GLORP! The water balls flew into his hand and were absorbed before without a drop getting on Crocodile.

"GAAH!" Luffy yelped. "HIS HAND SUCKED IT UP!"

"..." Y/N didn't react because he had used the split-second distraction to race off into the palace after Nico Robin and the King.

"You actually thought you could kill my powers, didn't you, Water Luffy?" Crocodile taunted. "That was a very foolish mistake to make. The true power of sand his dehydration! Watch!" Crocodile crouched down again and once again placed his hand on the ground. "MY right hand can suck the life out of anything by turning it into dust! Its power is limitless!"

Luffy pulled himself out of the hole he'd almost fallen in and watched as the broken wasteland that the grassy courtyard had been turned into started shaking. FWOOF! Sand erupted up out of the cracks in the courtyard. Luffy lunged out of the way just as another torrent of sand burst out of the crack he'd nearly fallen into. FWOOOF!

Then everything around him started crumbling. The remains of stone monument that Crocodile had smashed through sank into the ground and disintegrated. KRASH! The towering statue of a jackal toppled over and fell to the ground just like the warrior it represented.

"He wasn't kidding!" Luffy exclaimed. "Even the statues are crumbling!" Chaka himself was actually perfectly safe as he was lying unconscious where Y/N had left him in the main hallway of the palace. The only one in immediate danger was the one out on the dying courtyard... Luffy.

The fallen jackal statue disintegrated into a mound of sand. "Everything is just... dying!" Luffy gasped as he stared around him. "WAAAAH!" Luffy yanked his foot off of the ground in time to see his sandal crumble into nothing. "MY SANDALS!"

"Everything that is connected to the ground is done for," Crocodile told him. "INCLUDING YOU! GROOOUUNND... DEEAAATTHHH!" FWWOOOOOOM! The chunks of stone that made up the courtyard crumbled into sand. Luffy dodged to the side as another wave of sand washed over him. "KUAHAHAHAHAHA!" Crocodile laughed as he reduced the once grassy courtyard into a dead desert.

-x-

Nico Robin:

-x-

"OKAY, WHERE IS HE?" Nami wondered as she and Chopper ran down a street in the North Block. Ayako was still riding on the reindeer's back and was keeping a sharp eye out for any cannons. "WHERE'S THE CANNONEER?"

"There's no sign of him or a cannon," Ayako reported as she stared in the empty windows of the buildings lining the streets.

"There's only eight minutes left until the cannon goes off!" Chopper exclaimed.

"Well it's gotta be enough time for us to stop the cannoneer!" Nami replied, "We have to stop Crocodile's attack from happening no matter what! If we don't... then a million people are gonna die here today!"

-x-

"SEE ANYTHING?" Sanji called up to Mana as she floated overhead checking the rooftops while he ran along the street.

"Nothing from here!" Mana reported.

"If there's a bomb that can blow up that big an area it's gotta come from a big cannon," Sanji reasoned. "Check everywhere!" Sanji paused to check in a couple buildings but didn't find a thing. "DAMN IT!"

"Keep looking!" Mana called down to him, "I'll do another sweep of the rooftops on the south side!" Sanji nodded and continued running down the street while Mana floated off and continued scanning the rooftops from the air.

-x-

"WE'VE GOTTA FIND THAT CANNON!" Usopp exclaimed as he and Zoro ran down yet another street. Both pirates were ignoring their battle wounds in favor of dealing with the more pressing matter. "If we don't then WE'LL be blown up too! I DON'T LIKE BLOWING UP!"

"No time to think about that," Zoro replied.

They kept running until Usopp called out, "LOOK! UP THERE!" They stopped and stared up at a big cannon pointing over the edge of a high stone wall. "That's it. But do you think we'll be able to get up there quickly enough?"

SKISH! Zoro jumped passed him and leap-frogged off of the backs of the rebels and royal soldiers that had been fighting in front of them.

"WHY DOES HE DO THIS?" Usopp whined before he ran after Zoro.

TMP! Zoro landed on a winding staircase that led to the top of a building near the wall. SKISH! The leapt from that building onto the roof of one that was slightly higher then sprang up off of that and made it onto the top of the wall. SKISH! TMP!

A large royal soldier stood in Zoro's way. The man was wielding two swords but was also bleeding from the battle he'd just been in.

"Are you... from the Rebel Army?" the wounded soldier demanded.

"I can't waste any time with you," Zoro stated as he drew his sword. "Goodnight pal! SLISH!

"GAAAAH!" Usopp pulled himself up over the edge of the wall and let out a shriek as the soldier collapsed to the ground. Then he spotted the cannon, "CUT IT UP ZORO!"

Zoro stared at the giant old-looking cannon in annoyance while Usopp ran up to him. THWAK! Zoro lashed out his leg and broke the barrel of the cannon clean in half.

"THIS ISN'T IT!" Zoro complained. "IT'S COVERED IN MOSS!" They'd found a cannon but not the cannon.

-x-

SHOOOO! Pell flew over the city in his falcon form and scanned the roof tops with his sharp bird-eyes. "I don't see it anywhere," he realized. All he could see anywhere were the two fighting armies that were filling the square and the streets surrounding it. "There's no sign at all of a cannon or a cannoneer! I don't understand... WHERE IS IT?"

-x-

Down below, Vivi ran down yet another street in search of the cannon. "Only seven minutes left," she realized. FWUMP! The Princess was so caught up in her thoughts and the panic of saving her people that she tripped and fell to the ground.

"I'll stop it somehow..." Vivi vowed as she pushed herself up off of the ground and ran off again. "I will!"

-x-

King Nefertari Cobra walked down a street with his arms still bound behind his back while his captor Nico Robin used one of her actual arms to prod him onward. The two of them had taken a side exit out of the palace and the King was now reluctantly leading his captor to the Poneglyph.

"You're name... he called you Nico Robin," King Cobra stated. "Is that really your name?"

"What does it matter if it is?" Nico Robin questioned. "Don't you have more important things to worry about?"

"Nico Robin... that name was known throughout the world twenty years ago," King Cobra recalled. The King glanced at his captor. "Tell me... what did you come here for?"

"Just show me to where the Poneglyph is being kept," Nico Robin ordered. "That's all you need to worry about right now."

"Found you," a familiar voice called out from behind them.

Nico Robin glanced over her shoulder and saw Y/N racing towards her.

"If you value your life you'll stay out of my way," Nico Robin warned him.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Y/N replied. He stopped running and now stood behind her. They both tensed and prepared for a fight.

"YOU TWO, YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!" Both Y/N and Nico Robin looked back the other way and saw Lieutenant Devo and Sergeant Major Tashigi standing at the head of both squads of the Loguetown Marines that Captain Smoker had brought to Alabasta. The Marine Lieutenant had a pair of pistols holstered at his sides and a long thick rifle strapped to his back while the Sergeant Major had her trusty katana Shigure,

"Oh, if it isn't my second and third favorite Marine Officers," Y/N remarked as he walked forward and stopped when he was standing beside Nico Robin. "I'd love to stay and chat but I'm in the middle of something so I can't waste my valuable time on you."

"Favorite?" Tashigi repeated. "Have we met?"

"No, but your name always causes my friend Zoro a lot of grief," Y/N admitted. "I suppose not meeting you personally might've actually helped your standings in my eye. All the Marines that I've met are idiots."

"An idiot, huh?" Devo questioned. "We asked one of the wounded royal soldiers what was going on here. But it looks like they got it wrong. Your accomplice there is holding the King of this country against his will."

Y/N looked over at his 'accomplice'. "See why I think all Marines are idiots?" he asked.

"I don't have a high opinion of Government people either," Nico Robin admitted. "All of you get out of the way. We're in a hurry."

"No chance!" Tashigi retorted. "We're not moving and we have no intention of giving way to you two!"

"Well then you may not live much longer," Nico Robin decided.

"I'm trying to stop her, you idiots!" Y/N snapped, "And there's a more pressing issue here than you trying to arrest me. One of Crocodile's men is going to fire a bomb into the square where the two armies are. It'll wipe out everything within three miles. Make yourselves useful and lend my crew a hand in finding it and disabling it and let me handle this."

"Like I'd trust the word of a pirate!" Devo growled.

"HE'S TELLING THE TRUTH!" King Cobra shouted. "PLEASE! THE BOMB IS SET TO GO OFF AT FOUR THIRTY! IF IT DOES A MILLION CITIZENS WILL DIE!"

"See?" Y/N asked. "The King has my back on this. Will you take his word?"

Tashigi got out a watch and glanced down at it, "That's only minutes from now!" she gasped.

"Then we'll take those two fugitives into custody and then we'll stop the attack," Devo decided. "MEN! READY!"

"I already told you to get out of my way," Nico Robin said in a low threatening tone. "Treinta Fleur STRANGLE!" Thirty arms sprouted out of fifteen of the Marines standing behind Devo and Tashigi. The fifteen Marines fell to the ground as the arms grabbed them by the throat and strangled them.

"A DEVIL FRUIT!" Tashigi gasped.

"I said I was in a hurry, didn't I?" Nico Robin stated as the men twitched and passed out. "Don't make me angry with you."

"Then it's really Nico Robin," Devo realized. "Captain Smoker's suggested that I look up her Wanted Poster. But I don't need a Wanted Poster to know about her. Twenty years ago the whole world was talking about her. I was just a little kid when my parents read me the horror stories that were in the newspaper. An eight year old girl known as 'the Demon Child' Nico Robin destroyed six Marine Warships." Devo glared at Nico Robin. "If she was that much of a menace when she was a child there's no telling what kind of monster she is now."

"STOP YOUR POINTLESS RAMBLING!" Nico Robin shouted. She actually looked angry. "EITEHR MOVE OUT OF MY WAY OR YOU'RE ALL DEAD!"

"Do you listen to yourself when you talk?" Y/N asked. "You sound ridiculous." Y/N reached into his pocket and pulled out Nico Robin's wanted poster. Y/N displayed the picture of the eight year old girl with raven black hair that went down to her neck and dark blue eyes with a lighter blue ring around them. "Does this cute little girl look like a monster capable of destroying one let alone six Marine Warships?"

"Cute?" Nico Robin repeated the anger faded and was replaced by her usual calmness while she raised an eyebrow at the pirate standing next to her.

"You're adorable," Y/N dead-panned, "Can we get back to the matter at hand please?"

"Carry on," Nico Robin agreed. Clearly, her anger had been at the Marines mentioning her past and not the people impeding her from going onward as a whole.

"Simply put," Y/N addressed Devo and Tashigi, "You Marines just blundered your way into this situation and now you're getting yourselves involved while throwing off the plans of those who are involved."

"So you admit it, you are involved in this!" Devo realized.

Nico Robin blinked. Y/N would have too if he had two eyes on display.

"Is that really all you heard?" Y/N asked.

"Men, go to the square and stop the explosion," Devo ordered. "Tashigi, you deal with Nico Robin. One Eye..." Devo drew his pistols and pointed them at the pirate. "You're under arrest." The marines ran off leaving only the fifteen unconscious men behind. Y/N and Nico Robin were left staring down Devo and Tashigi while King Cobra stood next to Nico Robin with his arms still bound behind his back.

Y/N glanced over at Nico Robin, "Once I take care of him, I'm going to deal with you next."

"You're welcome to try," Nico Robin replied, "But I don't plan on sticking around."

"Right," Y/N agreed before he turned back to Devo, "Let's go Quickdraw, I don't have much time to waste on you." SKISH! Y/N jumped backwards and distanced himself from Nico Robin and King Cobra.

Tashigi drew Shigure and pointed the blade at Nico Robin. "Let that man go right away!"

"I've already warned you to move," Nico Robin stated as she crossed her arms in front of her. WHAP! Four arms grew out of Tashigi's body so suddenly that the Marine didn't have any time to react. Two of the arms wrenched her sword from her grasp while the other two clutched her chin and tilted it upward so the tip over own sword was pointed at her throat. KLAK! Tashigi's glasses dropped to the ground and the lenses shattered. She'd lost just like that.

BANG! Devo fired one of his pistols but Y/N lunged to the side and avoided the bullet. Devo ran after Y/N and fired again, BANG! Y/N weaved to the side and dodged the second shot.

"What now?" Y/N taunted, "You're out of bullets."

"Shit," Devo cursed as he went to pull his rifle off of his back.

Y/N drew his sword and charged at the Marine Lieutenant before he could pull his extra gun around, "Red Blade... EXPLOSION!" SLISH-BOOOM! The sword containing Mr. 3.5's explosive blood exploded and Devo was blasted backwards passed Nico Robin and Tashigi and smashed into a nearby building. WHAM! The Marine Lieutenant fell to the ground unconscious.

"That explosion wasn't very powerful," Y/N commented as he eyed the curved red blade as it absorbed Devo's blood. "Looks like I'm out of exploding blood. Good thing the little I had left was enough to take him out." Y/N sheathed his sword and looked over at Nico Robin.

"I can't let you interfere with my business any further," Nico Robin informed the already defeated Marine that was standing in front of her. Four arms grew out of Tashigi's right leg and started wrenching.

"AAAAAH!" Tashigi let out a scream and collapsed to the ground. THUD! KLAK! Her sword dropped next to her as the four arms on her leg worked in tandem and snapped her leg. KRACK! "AAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"Now you can't follow me," Nico Robin resolved. She looked away from the woman whose leg she'd just broken and searched the area for Y/N. But he was nowhere in sight.

"Where are you One Eye?" Nico Robin called out. "Did you realize that you still can't bring yourself to hurt a woman and run away?"

"I'm still around," Y/N's voice drifted over from one of the buildings nearby. "I realized that so I'm trying to think of a way to beat you without really hurting you."

"Doce Fleur!" An even dozen arms grew out of the surrounding buildings. "OJOS!" Familiar dark blue eyes with a light blue ring around the iris appeared on the palm of each of the hands as the scanned the surrounding area for any sign of Y/N.

SLISH!

"AAAH!" Nico Robin let out a faint yelp as she held one hand over her right eye and took a step backwards. One of her arms had just been attacked.

"Oh my," Y/N taunted from his hiding place. "Looks like you feel the pain when I attack one of your limbs. Thanks for making this easier on me. Now I can attack you without attacking you directly."

The eleven remaining arms and eyes disappeared in a flurry of petals and left Nico Robin in the middle of the street with King Cobra next to her and Tashigi on the ground at her feet.

"There's only six minutes left," Nico Robin announced, "And I don't have time for this." She looked down at Tashigi and four arms sprouted out of her left leg. "One Eye! Come out now or I'll break her other leg!"

"DON'T LISTEN TO—MMMPHHH!" Tashigi's cries were muffled when two arms sprouted out of her neck and covered her mouth. The arms started wrenching on her left leg and Tashigi let out a pained scream that was muffle by Robin's arms. "MMMMMMMMMM!"

TMP! Y/N landed in the middle of the street in front of Robin and sheathed his sword, "Fine," he conceded. "Here I am. Don't hurt her."

"Seis Fleur!" Two arms sprouted out of the ground and grabbed Y/N's ankles while another two grabbed his shoulders and the final two clutched his back. "I finally got you."

"Yeah, now let her go," Y/N requested.

While he was trapped there, Y/N recalled the conversation he had with Mana when she relieved him against Mr. 3.5. "I used my Devil Fruit Powers to counter her Devil Fruit abilities and she didn't get anything out of me."

The arms on Tashigi's leg disappeared but the other two remained clamped over her mouth.

"If I hope to survive this I've gotta make my body more dense," Y/N realized.

"Goodbye 'One Eye' Y/N," Nico Robin addressed Y/N. "Perhaps you'll survive your injuries. But I won't allow anything to keep me from finding that Poneglyph. CLUTCH!"

"Steel Shield!" All of the muscles in Y/N's body tensed while Nico Robin's arms wrenched at him and attempted to snap his spine. But Y/N's hardened body didn't budge.

"How?" Nico Robin gasped in surprise.

"I got the idea from a chocolate-loving friend of mine," Y/N explained. "It looks like you'll need more arms to break a dense body like mine. Speed Step!" ZZZZOOOOM! Y/N yanked free from her arms and less than a second later had raced passed her was standing behind her.

"Those techniques!" Nico Robin thought to herself in alarm. She'd seen Y/N use his speed technique before but assumed that he was just fast. But to see it coupled with his body hardening technique brought back memories of some unpleasant people that she'd encountered in the past.

"Quarterstaff... SWEEP!" THWAK! Y/N dropped down and swept Nico Robin's legs out from under her. She was sent flying up into the air while Y/N shot back up and drove the bottom of his boot into her stomach. WHOMP! Nico Robin slammed back down to the ground and laid there with Y/N's boot firmly planted on her stomach. "Looks like I finally got you."

Nico Robin closed her eyes in resignation. It was over. She'd lost. "Are you going to kill me?"

"If I can't hurt you what makes you think I'd kill you?" Y/N questioned. "But would you mind telling my Nakama that I beat you? They were riding me about not being able to finish the fights I pick with Officer Agents."

"Just finish me and get it over with," Nico Robin ordered.

"Sorry but there's been a change in plans," Y/N announced. "Your Majesty, I need you to take us to the Poneglyph. Nico Robin, I want to get to the bottom of this Poneglyph thing so when we get there – if you really can read it – I want you to tell me what it says."

"Of course," Nico Robin agreed with a faint smile. She'd been beaten but the pirate who had beaten her was still letting her do what she'd sought to when she first joined Crocodile.

"I'll decide what to do about it once I know what it says," Y/N reasoned. "And at least this way, if Crocodile manages to get away from Luffy again I'll be able to set up an ambush." Y/N took his foot off of Nico Robin's stomach and pulled the taller woman back up to her feet.

Trusting that Vivi's friend had a plan and that his daughter could deal with the bomb, King Nefertari Cobra – now willingly – led them onward towards the Poneglyph.

-x-

"Ugghh!" Luffy groaned as he hung off of the roof of the palace. Below him the entire courtyard had been reduced to sand. All that was left was the path going from the outer gate to the doors and the tall falcon statue on the right side of the door.

"That was bad," Luffy commented as he pulled his chest over the edge of the wall while his swelled water belly jiggled down below. "That hand of his is gonna be a big problem. The entire lawn has been turned into a desert." Luffy looked down below him but couldn't see Crocodile anywhere. "Oh great, where'd he go now?"

SSHHWWOOO! Sand swirled around and Crocodile appeared on the roof in front of Luffy.

"Kuahaha, I'm quite tired of wasting my time with you," Crocodile remarked as he knelt down and grabbed the dangling and defenseless Luffy by the throat. WHAP!

BLURP! BLURP! BLURP! Luffy fired three water balls at Crocodile in a desperate attack but the Warlord leaned to the side and the balls flew passed him.

Crocodile tilted back into place and smirked down at Luffy. "Missed me!" His hand clenched and began sucking the water out of Luffy's body from his throat.

"GAAAH!" Luffy gasped as his skin went pale and shriveled up. Luffy's limp hand dropped downward and his straw hat fell from his grasp and was carried away by a sudden breeze.

"Kuahahahaha!" Crocodile chuckled. "You have lost to me... two times now, Straw Hat Luffy."

Crocodile stood up with a triumphant grin on his face. He held the limp and shriveled mummy that was Luffy by the throat. On this day, Sand Croc had triumphed over Water Luffy.

-x-

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!!!